For businesses, the Raptors-Pacers game-day can be used by be marketers and businessman to raise revenues and sales. According to SportVU, a greater percentage of George’s shots (13 of 19) were contested than were in Game 1 (13 of 22) or Game 2 (six of 15).
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If you’re the Toronto Raptors, you bring down the house.
Raptors fans who made the trip chanted “Let’s go Raptors!” as the final seconds ticked down, while back in Toronto, fans watching on the giant screen in Maple Leaf Square leapt and cheered. Being in the game and solidifying the business presence during a Raptors-Pacers game-day can be a treat.
A 5-for-18 shooting performance in Game 2 against in followed a 5-for-19 outing in Game 1, the former made slightly more palatable because Toronto pulled out a much-needed win to tie the series 1-1. To prove the latter, after dropping Game 2 of their NBA Eastern Conference playoff series with the Toronto Raptors on Monday night, the Pacers are contemplating some kind of new look for tonight’s Game 3, reports The Star. IN is 46-38 overall, 26-15 at home and 42-41-1 against the spread.
Even though his numbers were better in Game 2, Kyle Lowry was still not back to his all-star form shooting the basketball in open play.
The Toronto Raptors came to play Thursday in Game 3 of their first-round series against the Pacers.
The Raptors again dominated the middle. The Raps can’t count on more Pacer yips in the team’s second game on its home court.
The Toronto Raptors had won just one road game out of their last 18 in the NBA Playoffs, just another unsightly chapter in their laundry list of struggles in the postseason. The rookie big man went off for 17 points and eight rebounds. 10 points and 4 rebounds in 24 minutes is still impressive, but his team was +12 when he was on the court and his baskets and assists came at crucial times, often shutting down any momentum in was starting to gain.
Obviously, a pair of playoff games versus the seventh-seeded Pacers aren’t going to define DeRozan’s time in Toronto. With the series shifting to IN for the next two games, the Raptors are leaning on their All-Star to rebound.
On Thursday night, he got some help and if his stat line didn’t jump off the page as it did in the first two games, it was still nothing to sneer at with nine points and 14 rebounds.
But after the opening minutes, the game was never close.
It also doesn’t seem out of the ordinary to suggest that the Raptors might win the next three consecutive games, either. The visitors bounce back in the second quarter as George scored 10 points in a 32-26 quarter that cut the halftime deficit to just five. Game 4 is set for Saturday at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. The rout sent Pacers fans to the exits halfway through the fourth quarter.
That’s of course easier said than done given the limitations of the roster. When Indiana held opponents under those numbers this year it went 23-3. At the very least, starting Miles doesn’t take away from bench scoring.
Pacers center Ian Mahinmi started the game despite a lower back sprain. Slow starts have plagued IN in this series, and perhaps Turner can alleviate that early.
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Game 4 will be Saturday in IN, and it’s absolutely a must-win for the Pacers.
